rule of law

In a few months’ time this country will once again make decisions on the political leadership that will guide the destinies of the nation. This is a pivotal point in regard to the direction and manner in which our country will develop in the near future. 1. CONTEXT We must recognise the reality that we […]

Image: A relative of a disappeared writing on the memorial wall at OMP on 30 Aug 2019. © Sunanda Deshapriya. UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka- Statement on the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances. “No-one has been forgotten” Today we stand up for the rights of the victims of enforced disappearances and their relatives. […]

UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Ahmed Shaheed. GENEVA / COLOMBO (26 August 2019) – Simmering ethno-religious tensions in Sri Lanka require urgent action by the authorities to strengthen respect for freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka, says UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Ahmed Shaheed. […]

Attorneys for SLPP presidential hopeful Gotabaya Rajapaksa have sought, in a fresh filing in the California Central District Court, to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him alleging his culpability in the January 2009 torture and extrajudicial killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge. The new filing asserts, while denying the allegation that he had a hand in the […]

(24 August 2019, London) The appointment of Shavendra Silva (Silva) as the new Commander of the Sri Lankan army is a deeply troubling development. For the Tamil community, this signals the end of the road for reconciliation efforts from the Sri Lankan Government. For the international community and all those interested in human rights and […]

The European Union Delegation Comprising of Mr Riccardo Chelleri, (Policy Officer Democracy and Electoral Observation) and Ms. Anne Vaugier Chatterjee (Deputy Head, Political, Trade,and Communications Section) and others met with the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance Mr. R Sampanthan today in Colombo. Briefing the Delegation Mr. Sampanthan highlighted that the people in this country […]

Image: Sri Lankan chief editor of the privately-owned Rivira weekly Upali Tennakoon (L) is rushed to the Colombo national hospital after he was attacked in 2009 (AFP Photo/Ishara S. KODIKARA) (AFP) Sri Lanka on Wednesday charged two army spies for a decade-old serious assault of a newspaper editor in the wake of the shock assassination of […]

Image: File photo, not related to this news story. Victim beaten brutally; sustains injuries to spine, stomach. Methodist Bishop says Christians will remain calm in the face of persecution. Expresses deep concerns about eroding freedom to practice faith in SL.   The Head of the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka has accused three Buddhist monks […]

06th August, 2019. Civil Society Statement in support of Reforming the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act We, the undersigned civil society organisations and individuals urge the Government of Sri Lanka to take immediate steps to reform the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). The failure to reform the MMDA has been a long-standing issue that successive […]

(4 August, 2019) The National Police Commission (NPC) decision to prevent the transfer of two senior cops in Kurunegala over their involvement in framing a Muslim doctor in a pseudo illegal sterilisation scare has raised serious questions about its alleged role in the communally charged controversy. The NPC stopped the transfers despite therecommendation for Kurunegala […]

The twists and turns in the ‘Dr Shafi Saga’ are never-ending and every new and sinister development points to a racially-charged political conspiracy. In the beginning, there was a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police. Then the Director of the Teaching Hospital. Last week, two complaints were filed with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) against […]

Image: Anti-Muslim riots at Digana, March 2018 file photo/SO. The recent Easter attacks targeting a number of churches and hotels devastated Sri Lanka. Over 250 people were killed, and many more injured. Within days of the attack, it emerged that the perpetrators of the attack were affiliated to radical Islamist groups in Sri Lanka. However, the […]

There is palpable confusion in the air. Is Sri Lanka’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujitha Jayasundara, arrested this week along with former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando on a range of offences under the Penal Code, including murder and causing death by negligence, still holding the position of head of the police force, albeit being […]

In the midst of the ongoing sittings of the Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the Easter Sunday bombings two senior officials in the public service have been arrested by the police. The charges against former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara are that they did not take sufficient action to […]

Image: Sri Lankan security officers inspect vandalized shops owned by Muslims in Minuwangoda, a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 14, 2019.  © 2019 AP Photo/Chamila Karunarathne (New York) – Authorities in Sri Lanka should end arbitrary arrests and other abuses against Muslims and appropriately protect the community from violence, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the Easter […]

Image: Writer Shasthika Sathkumara has been in custody without any charges for nearly 100 days! Mr. Chandana Wickramaratne, Acting Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters, Colombo 01. Re: Arbitrarv Arrest In the aftermath of the terror attacks perpetrated on April 21 , we appreciate the efforts taken by your department in the investigation process to […]

Image: Sirisena invited Gnanasara and his mother to his office after pardoning him. 20th of June 2019: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and its Executive Director, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, filed papers challenging the Presidential Pardon of Gnanasara Thero who was convicted for contempt of court by the Court of Appeal on 8th August 2018. He was sentenced […]

Landmark ruling raps Police over Matara schoolgirl unlawful arrest case. Reacting to the growing abuse of power by law enforcement authorities, the Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, has issued 20 guidelines to be followed by law enforcement authorities for the secure and advancing the rights of the public. This came as part of the […]

Image; Mazahina, left, pictured with her husband, was arrested over a pattern on one of her dresses which was wrongly believed to resemble the dharmachakra, a Buddhist symbol [Lisa Fuller/Al Jazeera] by Lisa Fuller & Rukshana Rizwie . Hasalaka, Sri Lanka – On May 17, police in central Sri Lanka arrested Abdul Raheem Mazahina, a soft-spoken 47-year-old grandmother, because […]

Image. Half burned Quran found at a Mosque that was set on fire by extremist Sinhalese mobs . (14 June 2019, London.) The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) express its strong condemnation of the anti-Muslim hatred and hysteria being whipped up by sections of Sinhala Buddhist community, and call on the Sri Lankan authorities to take […]

Anurangi Singh & Aanya Wipulasena. The emerging but problematic trend of arresting persons, typically belonging to one ethnic group in particular, and then calling for evidence against them, during this ‘volatile’ time is worrying and makes a mockery of the justice process, experts say. Several high profile cases – against Dr. Seigu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi,(gynecologist […]

“You really feel like your country has betrayed you.” Sonali Samarasinghe remembers the last words of her husband, Lasantha Wickrematunge, on the day in 2009 when he was killed: “Don’t worry, I got it under control.” Threats weren’t new to Wickrematunge. As the editor of The Sunday Leader, a Sri Lankan newspaper that published articles […]

Image: Muslim ministers speaking at a press conference, announcing their resignation. ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Muslim ministers have resigned protesting rising hate and harassment of their community, despite helping security forces apprehend Islamist extremists who carried out suicide bombings. At least nine ministers and deputies will resign but will remain in the backbenches, they said. […]

In the wake of Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks, we have one (Muslim) Minister confessing to calling the Army Commander to ‘inquire into’ the fate of a Muslim suspect arrested following the Easter Sunday attacks and another (Sinhala) Minister being so bold as to transport Sinhalese rioters attacking Muslim shops in Kurunegala from one police […]

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s police chief Pujith Jayasundera, now on compulsory leave, following Easter Sunday bomb attacks, has petitioned the Supreme Court alleging he was kept out of national security council meetings after October 2018, and he was offered a diplomatic post if he resigned. A Deputy Inspector General who was head of State Intelligence […]

Image: In Bandara Koswatte, the mob attacked the main mosque despite Police and Army presence, says HRCSL. In a letter to Acting Inspector General of Police, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka  has provided evidence of police complicity in the recent anti-Muslim attacks in Sri Lanka and recommended urgent action to be taken . Same quotes form the […]

The Tamil National Alliance unequivocally condemns the President’s act of pardoning Ven. Gnanasara Thero by abusing the Constitutional powers vested in the Head of State. He was jailed by the Court of Appeal for committing the offence of contempt against the Magistrate’s Court of Homagama. The conviction and sentencing happened after the learned Magistrate complained […]

Image: The central market in Minuwangoda in western Sri Lanka following the riots on May 13 [Rukshana Rizwie/Al Jazeera] Muslims live in fear after wave of attacks is blamed on Buddhist hardliners in the wake of Easter Sunday bombings. by Lisa Fuller & Rukshana Rizwie Kottaramulla, Sri Lanka – The stench of turpentine overpowered Jiffriya Ameer as […]

There is much good sense in the assertion by Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church this Friday that despicable communal violence by organised mobs against Muslims in the North Western Province and Minuwangoda a few days earlier was not only politically instigated but also a deliberate attempt to turn public focus away from the shock and horror […]

In the old story of the New Testament, Easter was the end of agony. It marked the glory of resurrection, yet another fable in humankind’s vain attempt to get past death. In Post- Easter Sri Lanka, on the other hand,there is no glory, only agony; endless questions and loads of blame. Who is to blame? […]